Just This One Time
by Ms.WrightingFantasy
Summary: A four-year-old Draco floos to Severus's house late one night asking to spend the night.


Name: Just This One Time

Rating: K+

Author: Ms.WritingFantasy

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, J.K. Rowling does. Duh!

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Severus Snape was not a man that often had company. Other than the Death Eater meetings, you rarely found him around people. It was something he had gotten used to over the years, and was actually rather fond of. He much more preferred the solitary existence he had now to any overly social existence he might have had if he had put more effort into his appearance or his personality. Severus scoffed at the thought of him flouncing around in some over the top outfit, wiggling his eyebrows at every person he came across just to get what he anted from them. Such things might work for other people, but he preferred other tactics.

On any particularly ordinary night, Severus could be found bent over some bubbling cauldron in his laboratory or hunched over an interesting volume while sitting next to his fireplace.

Tonight was no exception.

He was absorbed in the book he was reading. Word after word. Sentence after sentence. Paragraph after paragraph. The pages were turned quickly by his pale spidery fingers. He nose brushed the paper ever so often when he got particularly excited about what he was reading. The thought never crossed his mind that tonight wasn't like every other night that he spent reading at by his fireplace.

When his firelight turned the trade mark green that it always did when someone was using the floo system and a small white bundle came rolling out, Severus jumped from his armchair, pulling his wand from the inside of his robes. The fire went back to its normal orange. Before Severus had a chance to mutter any sort of spell, he realized exactly what the white bundle was.

"Draco?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow. "What are you doing here? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Draco had landed on his back. The small boy stared up at his god father from the floor.

"Can I stay here for awhile?" The four year old asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He had completely ignored Severus's questions.

A frown formed on the older male's face. "Absolutely not." He clipped. "It's far too late for you to be visiting. I'm taking you back to your house. Perhaps you can visit at a more appropriate time." Severus made a move to take the boy by the hand.

"No!" Draco jumped up and away from his god father's touch.

Severus snapped his hand away from the boy, taken back by Draco's actions.

The boy stood clutching his teddy bear to his chest. He looked like an abandoned child with some of the ash from the fire place smeared across his face and on his white night shirt that hung to his pale legs.

"Draco," Severus whispered crouching next to the small boy. ", what happened?"

Draco sniffed, shaking his head, and finally burying it into his teddy bear.

Severus frowned, worry tickling his throat. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Draco mumbled something into his bear.

"What?" Severus asked putting his bony pale hand onto Draco's equally pale shoulder. The boy practically blended in with his night shirt. Severus wasn't entirely sure where the fabric began and ended.

Draco brought his head up just enough to speak. "They're fighting again." He mumbled. Tears were streaming down his face.

Realization spread across Severus's face, and some of his worry left him. He had feared the worst. Perhaps the Order had attacked Malfoy Manor, or perhaps the Dark Lord had found a reason to be angry at Lucius. It didn't take much to anger the Dark Lord. He suddenly felt guilty. At Draco's young age he probably considered his parents fighting to be just as bad, maybe even worse, than the Order attacking.

A small sigh escaped him. Narcissa and Lucius's fights were well known through out the Death Eaters. Their spats often turned violent. Thing were thrown. Insults were hurtled. Most of the time the couple forgot whatever it was that started the fight in the fist place, but it didn't change the fact that no one wanted to be any where near the two whenever they were arguing.

"Alright." Severus said, giving the boy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "You can stay the night."

Severus barely got his sentence out before the small boy threw his thin arms around Severus's bony middle.

"Thank you!" Draco said into Severus's robes.

The teddy bear had hit Severus square in the face. He turned his head to the side repressing a sneeze that a suddenly threatened his nasal passages. Slowly he wrapped his arms around the boy's small frame before standing up. Severus resituated Draco so that his was sitting on his hip. He carried him out of his sitting room and out into the hallway. He had just grabbed the door knob to his guest room when Draco made a funny squeak.

"Can't I sleep with you?" He pleaded, bottom lip quivering as if he was about to burst into tears again.

Severus sighed through his nose. "Alright." He said reluctantly turning away from the guest room and proceeding to his own room. "Just this one time."

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A/N – Don't ask where this came from because I don't know, but I think it's absolutely adorable. (huggles Severus and four -years-old-Draco) Feel free to knock me off my pedestal if it was bad though, lol.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Sincerely,

Ms.WritingFantasy


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